NE BUSINESS BUREAU
CHENNAI, OCT 7
The Southern Railway on Thursday announced that it has increased the maximum permissible speed from the existing 110 kmph to 130 kmph in the Up and Down lines between Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central – Gudur (MAS-GDR) which has a length of 134 route kilometers and 268 track kilometer. The fitness for running at maximum permissible speed 130 kmph was granted on Wednesday. This has been achieved by the Zone with systematic and planned approach for strengthening the track, traction and signaling system and various bottlenecks were removed by working on a mission mode.
Shri B.G.Mallya @GMSRailway conducted a high speed trial run in Chennai- Gudur section today – Sanction accorded for running trains at 130 kmph in the section – The special train clocked top speed of 143 kmph during the speed trial – Excerpts from GM's address #SouthernRailway pic.twitter.com/QO0tC8q93b
— Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) October 6, 2022
After the inspection, BG Mallya, General Manager, Southern Railway said, “The public notification for operating trains at maximum permissible speed of 130 Kmph in Chennai – Gudur section, will be released shortly.”
- General Manager conducts high-speed trial run in Chennai – Gudur section at a top speed of 143 kmph on Thursday
- In Southern Railway, Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central – Gudur and Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central – Renigunta fall under the category of GQ-GD route.
- . It is also proposed to upgrade the speed on ‘B’ routes in sections, namely, Arakkonam – Jolarpet – Podanur- Shoranur, Thiruvananthapuram – Kayankulam – Alleppey – Ernakulam, Shoranur-Mangaluru, Chennai Egmore – Villupuram – Tiruchchirappalli – Dindigul section, by 2024-25.
He also complimented the officials for the exemplary work done for enhancing the speed limit.
The Railway Board has issued guidelines for enhancing the maximum permissible speed of all High density network, Golden Quadrilateral and Golden Diagonal routes (GQ-GD) from 110 kmph to 130 kmph. In Southern Railway, Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central – Gudur and Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central – Renigunta falls under the category of GQ-GD route.
High-Speed Trial Run at 143 kmph
High speed trial run was conducted by Shri BG Mallya @GMSRailway in Chennai – Gudur section today – The maximum permissible speed has been enhanced from 110 kmph to 130 kmph in the section – Public notification on regular operation of trains at 130 kmph will be issued shortly pic.twitter.com/yJvkag7jC1
— Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) October 6, 2022
Following the sanction for running at a maximum permissible speed of 130 kpmh in MAS-GDR section, BG Mallya, General Manager, Southern Railway conducted a high-speed trial run at a top speed of 143 kmph and window trailing inspection of Chennai – Gudur section on Thursday. The General Manager was accompanied by Desh Ratan Gupta, Principal Chief Engineer, Ganesh, Divisional Railway Manager, Chennai, and Senior officials onboard a special train formation. During the speed trial, the train covered the 134 Km stretch of Chennai – Gudur section in 84 minutes clocking top speed 143 Kmph, the releases added.
Speed upgrade in Chennai – Gudur section with full compliance of mandatory requirements
Following Railway Board’s guidelines to increase the sectional speed in all the ‘GQ-GD’ routes of Indian Railways to 130 Kmph, Chennai – Gudur becomes the first section in Southern Railway to get a speed upgrade of 130 Kmph.
The Railway Board and Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru have stipulated certain requirements to be complied for upgrading Chennai – Gudur section to the recommended speed standards. A series of trial runs were conducted by Railways and RDSO for assessing the fitness of tracks, traction, signals and rolling stock. On compliance of all the requirements laid down, the section was authorized fit for running trains at 130 Kmph on Wednesday.
Different type of works carried out in Chennai-Gudur section
To equip Chennai – Gudur line for handling trains running at 130 Kmph, following works were carried out:
- The standard of interlocking at all the stations are upgraded
- The maintenance requirement for the track, signal and TRD assets and rolling stocks are augmented.
- The curves in these sections were attended to have adequate transition length for the proposed speed wherever feasible.
- Complete Track Renewal (CTR) to 60 kg rail and sleepers
- Thick web switch in points and crossing
- Improved Switch Expansion Joints
- H beam sleepers in Girder bridges
Benefits for passengers
Consequent to the speed upgrade in Chennai – Gudur section to 130 Kmph, once the new time table for implementation of enhanced speed comes into force, the passengers bound for Andhra Pradesh destinations, New Delhi, Howrah and Mumbai will benefit from considerable reduction in journey time.
Following this, a similar speed upgrade is proposed for Chennai – Renigunta section, which connects the city to the pilgrimage centre Tirupati. It is also proposed to upgrade the speed on ‘B’ routes in sections, namely, Arakkonam – Jolarpet – Podanur- Shoranur, Thiruvananthapuram – Kayankulam – Alleppey – Ernakulam, Shoranur-Mangaluru, Chennai Egmore – Villupuram – Tiruchchirappalli – Dindigul section, by 2024-25.
